THE number of gambling establishments in Bournemouth and Poole has remained steady since 2010 despite fears of betting shops 'taking over' high streets.

There are some 40 gambling businesses in Bournemouth and 20 in Poole, the same number as there were eight years ago, according to the register of businesses held by the Office for National Statistics.

The sector includes casinos and amusement arcades, but the Gambling Commission estimates that about three quarters of such businesses are betting shops.

However, the Association of British Bookmakers says some businesses may be forced to shut down for good due to the government clampdown on fixed odds machines – cutting the maximum bet from £100 to £2 every 20 seconds – and competition from online gambling.

A spokesman said: "We anticipate that between 3,000 and 4,000 betting shops will close on high streets and in town centres across the country by 2020.

"As a result 15,000 to 20,000 high street jobs could be lost.

"High street betting shops also face similar issues to other retailers, like competition from other forms of gambling, and the increasing costs of rent and business rates."

Nationally, the UK's high streets had 11,370 gambling businesses in 2017, about four per cent fewer than in 2010.

Data from the Gambling Commission shows that between October 2016 to September 2017, the gambling industry in the UK made £13.9 billion in profit, a third of it coming from online gambling.

Marc Etches, chief executive of the charity Gamble Aware, said rising use of smartphones had given people easier and riskier access to sports betting, casino games and slots.

"Retailing is moving from the high street to online, and gambling is no different," he said.

"We are very concerned there are potentially no limits to the amount gamblers can lose online, where there are no statutory limits to stake values and the use of credit cards is permitted.

"Providing the opportunity to gamble on the basis of credit seems to us to be fundamentally wrong.

"This is why we’d like to see a ban on the use of credit cards when gambling online."

The rest of Dorset has only small numbers of gambling establishments and accurate data is not available.